Soulmarks
by thedoctorswolf
Summary: It was the only type of magic that Uther couldn't ban. In fact, most people didn't think of soulmate tattoos as magic anymore.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't own Merlin!

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It was the only type of magic that Uther couldn't ban. Everyone had soulmate tattoos, and it was so common that most people didn't even think of it as magic anymore. Some proudly wore their marks for everyone to see, while others kept them hidden and only showed them to those they thought could be their soulmate.

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Arthur was born with two soulmarks. One was a large golden dragon on his chest, which was his reason for always wearing a shirt, even for training. The other was a simple purple crown, presumably for his future wife. This tattoo was just above his right knee, also an easy place to hide. As the future king of Camelot, it was enforced from a young age that he should never reveal is marks. It was seen as a weakness, even though he could never get rid of it.

Merlin began wearing a scarf from a young age to hide the tip of golden snout that wasn't covered by his shirt. Although he wasn't ashamed of it, he was aware that it was unusual for a mark to be so big, and he had to seem as normal as he could. It's okay though, he eventually starts to like the scarves, and stubbornly defends them if someone insults his wardrobe choice. The second was a normal soulmark, just like what the other kids in Ealdor had. It was an intricate but small red rose, tattooed on his right wrist, easy to cover if he wanted to, but also easy to reveal if he thinks he finds the one.

Gwen's beautiful purple crown confused both her and her family. Crown soulmarks were only found on royals or nobles; it was unheard of for a peasant to have one. As she grew up, she learned to keep her tattoo hidden underneath her dress. When her friends would ask her about her soulmark, she would just shrug her shoulders. Eventually, they stopped asking and assumed she was one of the few that did not have a soulmate chosen by destiny. She thought it was a cruel trick played by fate, and grew to hate the unknown person she was yet to meet, all the while wishing that she could have had something normal.

Morgana's black strike of lighting on the back of her neck meant that she was doomed to a life of unrequited longing. She hated the man that she would inevitably fall in love with, loathed him despite knowing that she would love him with all of her heart.

Mordred's tattoo was identical to Morgana's, but he chose to ignore destiny and find his own love. He refused to long after someone that would never love him back.

Gwaine never thought much about the simple blue star behind his ear. He thought that if he was going to meet his soulmate eventually, there was no point in pining over whoever it would be. It would happen when it would happen, and meanwhile he would spend his time fighting and getting kicked out of taverns. Who knows? Maybe the love of his life could be the next guy he punches.

Leon grew up without a soulmark, which saddened him as a child, but eventually became something he came to terms with. Although he wished there was someone he was fated to be with, he knew that there could be someone out there that was right for him. However, as he grew older and became more devoted to protecting his kingdom, he was glad that there would be no one whose life would be ruined if he was killed defending Camelot.

Percival always quietly observed the people around him to see if he could find his blue star. He kept his hidden on his chest, but wished his soulmate would have theirs showing proudly, so he could finally find them. He was quiet even as a child because he was always fantasizing about how he would finally meet his soulmate.

Lancelot's black rose near the bottom of his stomach left him feeling devastated when he was old enough to discover what it meant: that the one he would love would not love him the same way. As a teenager and young adult he brushed off the advances of any woman because he knew it would never end well. As he grew up, he vowed to be faithful to the woman he would love, even if she would never love him.


	2. Arthur

AN: I don't own Merlin!

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When Gwen first became Morgana's servant, Arthur barely noticed her. She was just another subject to boss around when he needed something done. However, her constant kindness and happiness quickly drew his attention to her. He admired her from a distance and berated himself for his foolish, childish love for a woman he shouldn't even know, let alone care about. Instead of ignoring her, as he should have, his affection only deepened. He began to hope that his royal soulmate would arrive so he could finally fall in love with who he was destined to, instead of a mere servant (although he never thought of her as that). After accidentally knocking Gwen over one day, he saw her mark through a rip in her dress. He didn't hesitate to show her his purple crown, and couldn't stop the enormous grin on his face. Although he knew their love would cause problems with his father, no one could stop them from marrying.

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The first time Arthur saw Merlin, he knew there was something different about him, not just the fact that he was the only person that had the courage to stand up to him. He admired Merlin's bravery and stubbornness, but they couldn't stand each other. Two strong-willed people just didn't work together, and they never would. When Merlin saved Arthur's life and Uther made Merlin Arthur's manservant, Arthur was horrified. The idiotic buffoon would serve him? Arthur couldn't picture Merlin as the type of person to take orders from someone all day long, and thought that he would be gone within the work. The morning after the incident, Arthur woke to find Merlin standing in the corner of the room, unsure of what to do, but not timid like the other servants.

The first few days, Arthur mostly got dressed on his own because he didn't trust Merlin to see his strange soulmark that was on his chest. Soon, however, he didn't have a choice. Merlin demanded that if he was going to be stuck being his servant, he should at least do what he was supposed to do. After seeing the mark, Merlin stared in what could only be described as horror. Arthur was about to start yelling at Merlin when he slowly took off his scarf. Arthur could see the head of a dragon identical to the one on his chest, and stood there with his mouth open. There was _no way_ this annoying idiot could be one of his soulmates! While they did have a grudging respect for each other, they couldn't even be described as friends! Of course, after Merlin drank the poisoned chalice for Arthur, he began to realize that perhaps maybe he could trust Merlin with his life.

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AN: Wow! I didn't really think so many people would read and follow/favorite this! So, I'm going to do each character in a separate chapter because it's easier to manage with all my schoolwork and other stuff. I'll try to update this every two or three days, but it depends on how much homework I get. Thanks for the reviews! I always appreciate them or any type of constructive criticism!


	3. Gwaine and Percival

AN: I don't own Merlin

guardianofdragonlore: thank you so much!

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Although Gwaine's hair always happened to cover up his blue star behind is ear, he never tried to hide it. He would always seem to meet people at the taverns he explored that he thought could be his special soulmate, and would subtly move his hair so they could see his mark. If there was no reaction, he would talk and laugh with them, have a good time, then leave. He was never troubled when they were revealed not to be his soulmate and moved on to his next adventure.

The first time he was truly troubled that someone might not be his soulmate was when he met Percival. Just because he was always quiet didn't mean that he wasn't funny or that he couldn't drink as much as Gwaine. Despite their seemingly polar opposite personalities, Gwaine bonded quickly with Percival, but could never seem to work up the courage to display his tattoo. He began to make sure that it was covered, because he didn't want to face the disappointment that would almost certainly come when he discovered that they weren't meant to be.

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Percival was always watching everyone around him, hoping to see a small blue star identical to the one on his chest. His constant longing for his soulmate led to few close friendships. Until he met Lancelot, Percival never had many close friends because of his quiet observing he used to do instead of playing with the other children. When Lancelot was asked to help a friend (Merlin? What kind of name is _that?_) Percival chose to go with him, to see more people and perhaps finally find his soulmate.

Gwaine was not the first person that Percival had wished to be his soulmate, but he was the loudest and cockiest. Experiencing his arrogant attitude should have led to an immediate animosity between the two (he could never stand people that thought that they were better than others) but because of his quiet observance, Percival could tell that behind the arrogant façade, there was a man hiding from past sorrows. They became fast friends, much to everyone's surprise, and Gwaine began to open to him about his distrust of nobles and the past he had told no one. Percival fell for Gwaine completely, even though he knew they could never be true soulmates.

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Imagine the surprise they both experienced when Gwaine walked in on a shirtless Percival and saw the blue star on his chest and, with his mouth hanging open, finally wordlessly pushed his hair away to show his matching mark.

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AN: So that wasn't two or three days, sorry guys, but I had a lot of homework this week (two essays assigned one day due the next, falling asleep studying, etc.) Hopefully I won't have as much homework this week so I can update quicker! As always, thanks for the reviews/follows!


	4. Guinevere

AN: I don't own Merlin

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Growing up, Gwen always felt excluded from most of her friends. While many of them loved to speculate about who their potential soulmates could be, she had to pretend that she had no one destined to love. Of course, although she desperately tried not to, she became jealous of everyone that had a soulmark. Although she was kind to everyone, it was hard to remain happy while knowing that she had to keep her mark a secret. She tried to keep an open mind, but she found it easy to develop a hatred toward her soulmate because of the secrets she had to keep her whole life. She wished every day that she could've had a normal soulmate, or even no soulmate at all!

When she got a job working as Morgana's servant, Gwen originally despised Arthur Pendragon. He was cocky, arrogant, and everything that she imagined her hated soulmate to be (because, of course, she imagined her soulmate be someone handsome yet ignorant to the struggles she went through hiding her tattoo). He didn't care about the troubles of others, just as long as he was okay. As she saw him outside training every day, torturing some poor servant, she vowed that she would sooner die than be married to royalty if that person was going to be like Arthur.

However, when Merlin arrived and became Arthur's new manservant, Gwen began to notice a change in Arthur. He was kinder to everyone, and began to speak with her more often, not just because he had to. Slowly, without even really realizing it, Gwen's feelings for Arthur had changed from disgust to kindness to something that one might just call love. Of course, Gwen knew that the chances of Arthur being her soulmate were almost zero, but she allowed herself the hope that, if she really did have a royal soulmate, he might be hers. Each day her love for him grew, until she decided to show him her mark so she could finally find out if they were meant to be together. She rushed up to his room before her confidence could fade and, not looking where she was going. She ran right into someone and got knocked onto the ground, feeling her dress rip on the floor. As she got up to apologize to the person, she looked up and saw Arthur staring with a huge grin, and exposed his tattoo, identical to the one he just saw through the rip in her dress.


	5. Morgana

AN: Hey guys! Wow, I'm so sorry this took forever, I just had no motivation and so much schoolwork. IB is the worst sometimes omg. But here's Morgana, and I'll update again with Mordred later today.

I don't own Merlin.

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When Morgana first noticed Arthur's new energetic manservant that refused to be bossed around by Arthur, she thought that he was adorable in the way that a little puppy was adorable. His constant smile and never-ending happiness made him impossible to dislike. Morgana befriended Merlin, despite the difference in their social status, and, without ever really realizing it, fell in love with him.

Merlin, Morgana, Arthur, and Gwen were all riding together when she came to the realization that she was in love and, regardless of her past vows to hate the man she was destined to love, smiled sadly and accepted that she could never hate Merlin. He's Merlin! No one could ever hate him!

Until he decided to kill her.

After Merlin poisoned Morgana, her love for him was pushed so far back in her head it was easy to forget that she was supposed to be infatuated with him. Sometimes, when she was plotting her revenge against Merlin and Arthur for her rightful place on the throne, she would absentmindedly rub her mark, a reminder of an innocent time long gone.

When she discovered the Merlin had magic-that he was _Emrys_!-the betrayal was so deep and profound, even more so than when he killed her (because some small, rational, _good_ part of her mind knew that he had to kill her, that it was partly her fault). In moment of madness she grabbed a knife and slashed her soulmark, eliminating any remaining love she had for him. Emrys was her enemy, and if that was Merlin, so be it.

When Merlin killed her, that last words she uttered: "I used to love you, you used to be my best friend."


	6. Mordred

AN: I don't own Merlin.

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When Mordred was first told that he was destined to have his love be unrequited, it was also the first time he began to doubt prophecies and the old druid rules he lived by. After all, why should he have to live a life pining after someone when he could instead pave a road for himself? He questioned the customs that had never been questioned. He attempted to find cases of people without soulmarks, or with soulmarks like his, finding love despite what their fate seemed to decide. Of course, what he could find were only rumors and whispers, because if it had happened those people would have kept it private or would have been shunned from their communities.

As he grew up and continued his research and questioning, he periodically came into contact with Morgana, both when she was an ally and an enemy of Camelot, and both when he was her friend and enemy. When he looked back, he realized that she was his soulmate, but because of her obsession with becoming queen of Camelot, she never truly noticed him. But that was okay, because he had come to terms with what his mark meant and had already moved on long before Morgana was anywhere close to becoming his soulmate. He discovered Kara, a druid girl with no mark that, much like him, decided not to let that stop her from finding someone she could love.

They loved each other, as fierce and as loyal as any couple with soulmarks. And despite Kara's death, with Mordred's following not so long after, he was content with the fact that he had defeated destiny at least one time, that it wasn't completely in control. Even though he played the role destiny gave him by killing Arthur, he never chose to just give in and accept fate in every aspect of his life. He found a girl he would have never loved if he didn't fight, and his love for her was the most genuine that he had ever known

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AN: So, two in one day to make up for nothing in almost a month. Hope you liked it! Only Leon, Lancelot, and Merlin left to go! As always, thanks for all of the reviews/follow/favorites!


	7. Leon

AN: I don't own Merlin.

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Usually, when children were born without soulmarks, their parents grieved deeply because they believed that their child would never find a love as deep or whole as their own, if any love at all.

Leon's parents weren't like that.

Of course, they were upset that their child would, most likely, never find someone he loved deeply, but they found a silver lining that would shape Leon's life forever: because they were both extremely loyal to the royal family, especially Uther, they saw Leon as an ideal candidate to become a knight. There would be less people hurt when he had to go away for long periods of time, or if he was killed.

Because of the way his parents thought, throughout the first few years of Leon's life, he thought it was okay to not have a soulmark, that it wasn't abnormal or something to be ashamed of. It wasn't until he started playing with the children nearby his house that he discovered that he was the only person who didn't have a mark. After he revealed that he had no mark, the other children would always stare at him a bit longer than was normal and would whisper about him behind his back. As he grew up, he never became close friends with anyone because of the lack of a soulmark that alienated him. When his parents began to not-so-subtly suggest that perhaps training to become a knight would be a good idea, he didn't protest.

It was soon discovered that Leon had a natural ability for swordfighting, quick-thinking, and all the abilities a good knight had to have. He rose through the ranks of the knights at an unprecedented rate; this, again, prevented him from becoming true friends with anyone, either because he never stayed in one place long enough or because others were jealous of him. He learned from his childhood not to mention his lack of a soulmark and to evade any questions about it when asked. He loved his life as a knight and told himself that not having friends would be for the best if (when) he died in battle.

Leon was chosen to be the one to train the younger Prince Arthur and, despite their age difference, they became fast friends. None of them spoke about their soulmarks (or lack thereof) and they always had fun practicing, as Arthur was quick to become just as much of a protégé as Leon was. There was a deep trust that formed over the years of training, sparring, and, later, battling enemies. After a lifetime of shallow friendships, Arthur became the one person to whom Leon was 100% loyal (even more than the king, although he would never say so), and whom he trusted completely.

Leon became the youngest man in history to become the head of all the knights, and had the respect of those that once despised him. He was always loyal to Arthur, and would always support any decisions that he made. Although he first had some doubts when Arthur allowed commoners to become knights, they soon became his group of most trusted friends, including Merlin and Guinevere, whom he knew for most of his life, but had never really spoken to until Elyan became a knight and Arthur began courting her.

Although Leon originally agreed to become a knight because he never had any close friends and he thought he never would, he was startled one day by the thought that he had a group that he trusted with his life, that he would give his life for.

He realized that, despite the fact that he didn't have a soulmark, being a part of the Round Table was almost like having a group of soulmates that he loved and trusted deeply, that not having a soulmark didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to have anybody to care for, or anybody to care for him.

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AN: Haha wow guys, sorry for not updating in _forever _omg. Reviews are amazing, and I _promise_ I'll have Lancelot sometime within this week or the next.


	8. Lancelot

AN: I don't own Merlin.

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Growing up, Lancelot was always compared to his parents, who were the sort of cliché soulmates that were rare even in a world where most of the population had a soulmate. They knew since they met as young children that they were destined for each other, and there were childhood sweethearts. Their marriage never suffered any troubles, and they never argued. This, of course, gave Lancelot high expectations as to how his life would be with his soulmate. He made a promise to himself that he would wait for his soulmate, that he would always be loyal to her even when they hadn't met yet. Even when he discovered that the color of his rose meant unrequited love, he refused to break his promise, even though he was denying himself any chance of finding a new love.

This promise to himself was made without his parents' knowledge, but was made because of their actions and stories. He grew up with their idealistic stories about how they always knew they were meant for each other even before they understood what their soulmarks meant, that they didn't need anything to confirm what they already knew; they were made for each other. The stories he grew up with and the obvious love and affection he observed every day lead to Lancelot originally vowing that he would wait for his soulmate so he could experience the true love his parents had, but later changed that promise when he discovered that he was not his soulmate's soulmate. If he couldn't experience the love that he grew up around, he didn't want any romantic love in his life. He would find his love and help her in any way he could, wanting to be loyal to her even if she would never reciprocate the feelings.

When he first met Guinevere, it was love at first sight (at least, for him). It soon became quite obvious to Lancelot, however, that Guinevere was infatuated with Arthur. He could see the possibility of her loving him as a second choice if, and _only_ if, Arthur refused to reciprocate her love, but knew it was a slim possibility. Instead of mourning the loss of his chance at love, he remembered his promise and maintained it; Lancelot became one of the best and noble knights that Camelot had ever known.

His focus was on keeping Guinevere safe and happy, and therefore also keeping Arthur safe and happy. When Guinevere asked him to keep Arthur safe on the quest to heal the tear in the veil between the Spirit World and the Real World, he promised that he would keep Arthur safe-or die trying. In the end, he prophesized his own death, and when he sacrificed himself to keep not only Arthur safe, but also Merlin, his best friend (and someone who could protect Gwen far more than he ever could), he left with a smile and a feeling of peace, knowing that his friends, and his love, would live because of him.


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